Taxi robbery victim waiting for compensation 5 years after crime

A lawyer for a taxi driver who was the victim of a robbery back in 2006, when two Marines robbed him of his wallet containing ¥44,000 and $320 in cash, says that both the U.S. military and the Japanese government have ignored a court order that awarded his client \27 million in consolation money,

The Marines were caught and subsequently sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail. They were also ordered to pay ¥27 million in damages to the taxi driver in a civil suit that followed.

Now the driver’s lawyer says that five years after the verdict, none of the money has been paid to his client, who’s now 71 years old., nor has he gotten any response from either U.S. military or Japanese officials. The lawyer says that he has sent the Okinawa Defense Bureau a letter requesting the to press the U.S. side to pay the damages. If nothing else helps, his client is considering suing the Japanese and U.S. governments over the matter.

Under an agreement between the U.S. and Japanese governments, Japanese victims of crimes by off-duty servicemen are entitled to lodge claims through the Japan Defense Ministry. The U.S. military should pay the agreed amounts of consolation money to the victim, and the Japanese government the rest of the damages determined by the courts.